If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Crock pot raccoon

As a kid, my Grandfather in Mississippi would get kind of upset if he heard someone had gotten a raccoon
for the pelt and let the meat go to waste.

The other day, I trapped one that had been destroying our bird feeder.
I was going to just take his shirt off, and bury the rest...

Then I heard my Grand Pop again,,,, and cleaned it.
I was going to fry it like squirrel, but decided to put it in the crock pot instead.

All trimmed of fat, and those bean looking things in its armpit, then quartered and seasoned-
It went in the crock pot with a quartered onion, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and the soup can of water.

Hit the go button, and waited 7 hours.

Grand Pop was right.
Not stringy, tender, it sort of fell apart like crock pot chicken or pulled pork,
and tasted at least as good as any pot roast I ever had.

It wasn't playing the blame game, finding fault, and complaining about every little thing that made America great.
It was God, guns, and guts.

Never pick a fight with old people.
If they don't think they can win it: They'll just kill you.

An instant pot works real good on coon's. It'll make them nice and tender. My wife also cooks limb chickens in it also. They come out sooo good. No rabbits though, I like them baked with some onions, carrots and taters with bacon strips laid across them.

"Adults are the children and the children are the adults" Jules my wife.

All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife. — Daniel Boone

Young coon properly prepared is delicious. Many is the person who ate BBQ'ed coon at our house thinking they were eating BBQ'ed beef. Canned carp rivals the best salmon and I prefer it to salmon or trout. I drew the line at possum every time I skinned one so we're at cross purposes richhodge...lol!!. I never tried gar but sure gave a lot away to an uncle and another friend who swore they were delicious....as long as you ate them hot. Buddy said they turned to rubber when they got cold. They are fun to shoot with a bow as rich mentioned.

I trapped and skinned enough muskrats to have a coat made for my wife, it is gorgeous even after 30 years and, over the years probably trapped and skinned enough to fill a pick-up bed with pelts., heaped up. But I never could make myself eat one. The way their meat pulls apart so easy you'd think it has to be tender but, I'm past trying any now.

Last edited by sharps4590; 03-19-2020 at 08:35 AM.

"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery

When I lived next to the lake, for quite a few years I bowfished every night. Not gonna lie, I left a lot of carp on the shore for the scavengers, but I ate a lot of them too. They smoke real well, I never did the pressure cooking and canning it, but would bil fillets to pull the Y bones out and then crumble the meat with crackers egg and onions and make patties. The kids loved it.

Gar is actually good eating, but they are kind of a pain to clean. Gotta use tin snips and those scales when they break leave sharp edges that will nick you. The meat itself is good though.

When guns are outlawed only criminals and the government will have them and at that time I will see very little difference in either!

"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems man faces." President Ronald Reagan

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the law breaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is acoutable for his actions." Presdent Ronald Reagan

I might think that too if I hadn't seen chickens poop, then turn around and eat it.

I've changed my mind on carp too after fishing for them some.
They're rather picky eaters. If your bait isn't fresh, they won't touch it.
It has to be some sort of corn, grain, cheese kind of something.
In other parts of the world, they raise carp like we do hogs, chickens, and catfish.

Nobody seems to have a problem with catfish and the 'bottom feeder' concept.
But to fish for them, they seem to prefer the nastiest, most rotten and foul smelling mess you can get on a hook.

I'd have to pass on opossum.
A cousin told me once of coming across a dead sheep in their pasture.
As he went to pick it up and take it to be burned, 2 opossums crawled out.
I'd have a hard time eating one.

I have heard people say you're supposed to cage 'em up and feed them table scraps for several days
so they can 'purge' whatever nastiness they've recently eaten.
I've been told they're pretty good after you've drained off all the grease,
but so far, I haven't been hungry enough to eat one.

Last edited by Winger Ed.; 03-19-2020 at 03:51 PM.

It wasn't playing the blame game, finding fault, and complaining about every little thing that made America great.
It was God, guns, and guts.

Never pick a fight with old people.
If they don't think they can win it: They'll just kill you.

I have eaten possum. Ate a lot of carp when I bowfished a lot, even gar. I'm not afraid to try unconventional fare, but I doubt I'd ever do a racoon.

I have ate coon as a kid,but still remember it.We did not make a habit of it,but Dad wanted to try one,so Mom baked one.It was greasy,but we all liked it..I have always thought of a possum as something I would have to be mighty desperate to eat.When I was a kid my uncle,and cousin,and Bud,and his son would come and stay with us in deer season because the deer hunting was poor in North Carolina back then.Bud was the brother in law of my uncle,and was originally from Louisiana,and you could really tell it from the way he talked.I remember one year he shot a buck a good ways from the house,and needed help with it.I will never forget him saying he killed "De great GrandDiddy".To us it was nothing to write home about,and then a day,or two later he shot one a little nicer,and he dubbed it "De great GrandDiddy's great GrandDiddy".We all liked Bud,and he was a talker.If he was still alive he would probably be over 100 now,so he probably saw some hardtimes in his youth.I remember him talking about gathering rice ,but I think we all got a kick about his story of how they ate possum as a kid.They would catch them,and feed them corn for a short while before they ate them.I guess a possum is as clean as a chicken,but I would still have a hard time swallowing a mouthfull of possum.LOL

My folks used to cook raccoon when they could get one. It's good meat. When I first moved south I worked with a guy that was into coon dogs and he was happy to bring me the frozen animals after they were skinned. It normally took me the better part of an hour with a sharp knife and an exacto to cut up and get every bit of fat off a raccoon. I recall I could just about clean 3 of them while watching a football game. I'd brown the pieces, lay them on a bed of onions in a dutch oven with a trivet and some red wine. I'd take a tray of it to work and the guys never failed to finish it off. First time I didn't tell anyone what they were eating. After that they requested it.

It's good meat, and not greasy or wild tasting if you really take your time de-fatting it. I think it's that way with most carnivorous or omnivorous animals. This thread has me tempted to build a couple live traps. Not sure if the wife would try it or not. Kinda doubtful.

I might think that too if I hadn't seen chickens poop, then turn around and eat it.

I've changed my mind on carp too after fishing for them some.
They're rather picky eaters. If your bait isn't fresh, they won't touch it.
It has to be some sort of corn, grain, cheese kind of something.
In other parts of the world, they raise carp like we do hogs, chickens, and catfish.

Nobody seems to have a problem with catfish and the 'bottom feeder' concept.
But to fish for them, they seem to prefer the nastiest, most rotten and foul smelling mess you can get on a hook.

I'd have to pass on opossum.
A cousin told me once of coming across a dead sheep in their pasture.
As he went to pick it up and take it to be burned, 2 opossums crawled out.
I'd have a hard time eating one.

I have heard people say you're supposed to cage 'em up and feed them table scraps for several days
so they can 'purge' whatever nastiness they've recently eaten.
I've been told they're pretty good after you've drained off all the grease,
but so far, I haven't been hungry enough to eat one.

Where I lived on the shore of Milford Lake had about a quarter mile of shorline that was a lime stone ledge and dropped off, so I could walk that in the morning or evening, morning was best because the sun was at my back, and usually get off a dozen or so shots at them, and most sessions I'd hit more than I missed. Best dog I ever knew was a sweet old female bassett and that was our ritual every evening for several years, we'd walk that stretch and she'd have a great time, didn't care about the fish.

People come up with all kinds of bait recipes for them, I always just brought a can or grocery store corn, chummed most of it out into an area then put three or four kernels of it on a faorly small hook with a little split shot and dropped it in where I had chummed. Usually doesn't take long. Once you set a hook, there's no way they will spit one with that tough rubbery mouth. They pull real hard for deep water, but otherwise don't fight like a bass, no jumping or tuning, just a hard pull. Lots of fun.

Can't get over you guys somehow thinking a possum is nastier than a coon. Most of them carry rabies, distemper or parvo or some combination of the three, I wouldn't touch one. I killed a big ugly one off the porch a few years ago that was eating the cat's food, missing a front paw from a long time before. Smart thing, it took a lot of doing on my part to get it in and kill it, it had evaded traps, it was just so nasty and evil smelling the last thing I could have thought about was eating it. It went in the trash.

Fried squirrel is still on of my favorite meals. It ain't bad in a slow cooker or crock pot with chili fixin's. Rabbit can be eat alot of ways too, buddy of mine in high school turned me on to rabbit fajitas. I miss them things alot, but I'd go for fried squirrel over them. Homemade rabbit sausage can be danged good too.

I've eat coon, I've eat possum. Possum I would rather not do again unless I had to. I've seen to many of them come waddling out the side of a week old dead cow for me to care much for them. Not to say that that I tried wasn't tasty, for it certainly was, but still... dang...

Alligator gar. Best way I know of is to chop the meat up good, chop up some green onion, garlic, and jalapeno pepper. Roll them into balls, roll 'em around in cornmeal with a little flour in it, and deep fry 'em. Had a notion years ago to add cooked rice to it, never got around to tryin' it.

God Bless.

GoodOlBoy

Yes I can be long winded. Yes I follow rabbit trails. Yes I admit when I am wrong. Your mileage may vary.